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'''Roger Caillois''' ([[March 3]], [[1913]] - [[December 21]], [[1978]]), was a [[French ]] [[intellectual]] whose idiosyncratic [[work ]] brought together [[literary criticism]], [[sociology]], and [[philosophy]] by focusing on [[subjects ]] as diverse as [[gem]]s and the [[sacred]]. He was also instrumental in introducing [[Latin ]] American authors to the French [[public]].

Caillois was [[born ]] in [[Reims]] but moved to [[Paris]] as a [[child]]. There he studied at the prestigious [[Lycée Louis-le-Grand]], an [[elite ]] [[school ]] where students took courses after graduating from secondary school in [[order ]] to prepare for examinations for a top spot at [[university]]. Caillois's efforts paid off and he entered the [[École Normale Supérieure]], graduating in [[1933]]. After this he studied at the [[École Pratique des Hautes Études]] where he came into contact with thinkers such as [[Georges Dumézil]], [[Alexandre Kojève]], and [[Marcel Mauss]].

The years before the war were marked by Caillois's increasingly [[leftist ]] [[political ]] commitment, particularly in his fight against [[fascism]]. He was also engaged in Paris's avant-garde intellectual [[life]]. With [[Georges Bataille]] he founded the [[College of Sociology]], a group of intellectuals who lectured regularly to one [[another]]. Formed partly as a reaction to the [[Surrealist]] movement that was dominant in the 1920s, the College sought to move away from [[surrealism]]'s focus on the [[fantasy ]] life of an [[individual]]'s [[unconscious ]] and focus instead more on the [[power ]] of [[ritual ]] and [[other ]] aspects of communal life. Caillois's background in [[anthropology]] and [[sociology]], and particularly his interest in the sacred, exemplified this approach.

Caillois [[left ]] [[France ]] in [[1939]] for [[Argentina]], where he stayed until the end of [[World War II|WWII]]. During the war he was [[active ]] in fighting the spread of [[Nazism ]] in Latin America as an editor and [[author ]] of anti-[[Nazi ]] periodicals. In [[1948]], after the war, he worked with [[UNESCO]] and traveled widely. In 1971 he was elected to the [[Académie Française]].

Today Caillois is remembered for founding and editing ''[[Diogenes]]'', an interdisciplinary journal funded by [[United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|UNESCO]], and ''Southern Cross'', a [[translation ]] of contemporary Latin American authors published by [[Gallimard]] that is [[responsible ]] for introducing authors such as [[Borges|J.L. Borges]] or [[Alejo Carpentier]] to the French-[[speaking ]] public.